Learn to Fly
by PancakesAndSunshine
Summary: One night, Hotch finds himself caring for a bruised and battered Emily. When sparks fly between the two, can Emily get her act together? Or will it all fall apart? One-shot. R&R, please! Rated T for themes and language.


**Author's Note: Hey guys! I'm just trying to write some filler stories in between my updates for **_**Shark in the Water**_**, if any of you are following it. Anyway, enjoy this one-shot!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything but my ideas.**

_His head was spinning. He knew it was just about time to leave, but he couldn't bring himself to walk out the door. He kept his eyes trained on Emily's body. It was moving perfectly to the tempo of the music. He watched her until a man came up behind her and tugged on her arm. For a moment, it looked like Emily was afraid, but her expression passed, and she soon followed the man out the door._

_Jonathan, Hotch thought to himself. Jonathan was the name of Emily's new boyfriend. She'd brought him up a few times with the girls. Every time she mentioned his name, though, a strange look would come over her face, like she resented him. But it was none of his business, right?_

_Out of half-drunken curiosity, he followed Emily and Jonathan out the back doors. He stood silently behind the wall, straining his ears to listen into their conversation._

_Suddenly, their voices picked up._

"_I did NOT cheat on you. Are you psycho?" he heard Emily's voice raise._

"_You seriously expect me to believe your fucking lies? You didn't tell me you were an FB-Fucking-I agent; you didn't tell me you had a CAT-"_

_Emily stopped him. "You're getting hell-bent over a CAT? And you know I can't tell you I'm in the FBI. That's privileged information!" she spat. As Hotch listened on, he heard a sigh._

"_You're right. I'm sorry, babe," Jonathan tried to apologize._

"_No, you're not. I'm taking Sergio, my cat, and getting the hell away from you," she grumbled, pushing past him. Suddenly, Hotch heard a shriek._

_Jonathan had slammed Emily into the brick wall behind them. _

"_Let go of me!" she yelped, struggling against his strong grip. The moment the sound of skin hitting skin resounded through the empty alley, Hotch sprang out from behind the wall. He tackled Jonathan onto the ground and pulled his arms behind his back._

"_Calm the hell down, Jonathan, or I will arrest your sorry ass," Hotch growled dangerously in Jonathan's ear._

"_Hey, I'm sorry, man. She pissed me off. A guy's gotta do what a guy's gotta do, right?" Jonathan tried to empathize with Hotch, only resulting in his arms being pulled tighter._

"_Ouch! Lighten up, man!" Jonathan yelped. Hotch only dug his knee in Jonathan's back even tighter._

"_No fucking chance. Now let me tell you this. I will let you go on one condition. You touch, call, or even so much as look at this young lady, I will have you arrested on the spot, you hear?" Hotch spoke in a low voice. Jonathan nodded quickly, and Hotch let him go. Jonathan immediately fled the scene as Hotch turned to Emily. A bruise was forming on one side of her face, and the other side of it was red. Her lip was split, and she was curled up in the fetal position._

"_Emily? Can you hear me?" Hotch asked, placing his large hand under her neck and lifting it gently. _

"_Ung…" she groaned through the pain._

"_Emily, we need to get you to a hospital. Now," he said, trying to lift her._

"_No… No hospital," she muttered. _

"_What do you want me to do?" he asked softly._

"_Take me home…" she whispered weakly. He nodded._

"_Alright, Emily. What's your address?" he asked. She shook her head slowly._

"_Not mine… Yours." The pain was rippling through her face now, and he had to move quickly. This was just for one night, right? He thought to himself._

_So he picked her up bridal-style and carried her to his car. He laid her flat on the backseat and pulled out of the driveway, making sure to drive slowly as not to tip Emily onto the floor. Once they arrived at his apartment building, he picked her up the same way and carried her all the way up the stairs. He balanced her on one arm and knee and pulled out his keys. He unlocked the door quickly and placed her gently on the couch. He locked the door and pulled a soft blanket over Emily's body._

"_Jack's at Haley's, so you can stay the night here," he told her, pouring a glass of water for her. She tilted her head so that her lips met the water._

"_I have a spare pair of Haley's pajamas, too, if you don't mind wearing those," he offered._

"_Thank you," she whispered painfully. She rested her head back on the pillow, and her eyes drifted closed._

Hotch was snapped back to the present. It was about two thirty in the morning. He had spent the entire night by her side, watching the news or reading his book. She was just now beginning to stir, her eyelids fluttering open.

"Hotch?" she mumbled quietly, squinting as the harsh kitchen light came into focus.

"I'm here, Emily. I'll be back with a warm towel to wipe your face." With that, he stood up and soaked a small hand towel in hot water. He wrung it out in the sink and gently dabbed at Emily's bruised face. She winced at the contact.

"I'm sorry," he frowned. She shook her head.

"It's alright. I just hurt for a second. You can keep going," she whispered. He continued to gently wipe Emily's face with the towel. When he was finished, he poured her a mug of hot tea.

"Green tea? How did you know?" she whispered hoarsely, a light grin tugging at the corner of her lips.

"A little birdie told me," he grinned slyly. Emily giggled, then winced again.

"Remind me not to laugh," she shook her head at herself. Hotch nodded.

"I'll remember that."

"Hotch…" Emily began.

"Aaron," he interrupted. "Call me Aaron."

"Okay… Aaron," she started again, "thank you for doing this."

"Of course, Emily," he nodded. She placed her hand on his, but immediately pulled away at the confused look on his face.

"I'm sorry," she muttered sheepishly.

"It's okay," he replied, fitting himself onto an empty space by her legs. He took her hand and covered it with both of his.

"I hope I'm not being a burden," she said quietly, a small blush creeping up on her face. Hotch was taken aback slightly. Did she really think he didn't want to take care of her? Of course, he had never been one to let his emotions show through…

"Of course not, Emily. Why would you think that?" he asked. He slightly tightened his grip on her hand.

"Well, taking care of your beat-up coworker isn't exactly the picture-perfect Friday night, now is it?" she gave him a light smile. He shook his head.

"Believe it or not, I don't get out much," he teased lightly. She giggled.

"I just feel… Embarrassed, I guess," she admitted. He raised a brow.

"Why? There's nothing wrong with having someone take care of you when you're hurt. You know that, right?"

"I know. I'm just not used to it. I remember this one time when I was little, my mom and I were in France for the first time. There was a little swing in the backyard. It had been there… Gee… Forever, it seemed. My mom kept telling me not go on it because she was afraid it would break," she grinned.

"So? Did you go on?" Hotch asked, finding himself curious to know the fate of young Emily and the swing.

"Of course, I went on. Is that even a question?" she laughed. He shook his head, a smile playing on his lips.

"What happened?" he asked.

"Well, I went on. I started swinging; I kept going higher and higher. Then, I fell off and broke my arm," she chuckled.

"Wow… How'd you do with that?"

"Well, Mother wasn't home, so my nanny had to call the doctor to come in and take a look at it. He did, and he bandaged it up for me. Mother got mad, of course. The funny thing was, she actually tried to take care of me," Emily recalled.

"Really? How did that work out?" Hotch gave a knowing smile. Emily shook her head, feeling another grin coming on.

"It was a bust. Trust me," she giggled. "I guess that's why I'm not used to people helping me."

"Well, get used to it. Once you get married, you're going to have to accept the fact that you're not on your own," he told her. She nodded sheepishly.

"To be honest, Aaron, Ian was the closest thing I had to a husband. And even then, that was still fake." She ran her tongue over the corner of her lip, then pressed her teeth into it.

He had noticed her little habit ever since she joined the BAU. It was cute, actually.

"You know, you're adorable when you do that," Hotch blurted out. It was his turn to blush now.

Emily was caught off-guard. …In the best way possible, though.

"What?" she giggled nervously. He shook his head and looked down.

"I am so stupid," he chuckled.

"You are _charmingly _stupid," she corrected him with a grin.

"You think so?" he teased.

"I _know _so," she flirted. She sat up as best she could.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"Come on, Aaron. You can't hang on to me forever. I have to pee," she giggled. He let go of her hand and watched her hobble away.

It was a quite sexy hobble, actually.

As the door locked, he ran his hands over his face and scolded himself mentally.

_She just got out of an abusive relationship, and you're already thinking of that? Come on, Aaron._

Another voice in his head argued.

_You gotta admit, she is pretty damn sexy._

He rolled his eyes at himself and waited until Emily came back from the bathroom.

"You good?" he asked.

"I'm good," she smiled.

_His sleepy-voice is sexy_ she thought.

"Do you, uh, want to watch the news?" he asked awkwardly. She bit her lip and thought for a moment.

"I've got a better idea," she whispered slyly. She placed his hands on her lower back, one of the only places that wasn't sore or bruised. He hesitated for a split second, but obliged. Emily wrapped her arms around his neck and looked him deep in the eye.

"Let me know when you want me to stop," she told him. He nodded. She closed her eyes and brought her face closer to his. The minute her lips were just in front of his, he whispered, "Stop."

Just as she pulled away, he brought her face back.

"I thought you said stop," she grinned. He winked and rested his forehead against hers.

"So did I." With that, he pressed his lips to hers.

The two melted together like butter. Their lips moved together in perfect sync, wrapping themselves around each other. Soon enough, the two found themselves on the couch, with Emily straddling Hotch's lap.

He removed his mouth from hers and began to work on her neck. He ran his tongue along the nape of it, sending tingles down Emily's spine.

Once he was far enough down her neck, he rolled her perfect skin in between his four front teeth and sucked on it, letting the world know that she was his.

The two pulled away, panting. Emily curled up against Hotch's hard chest.

"Emily, I love you. I really do. And I swear on my life, I will never do anything to hurt you or put you in danger. If you want this, then I want it too. Promise me we'll make this work?" he asked hopefully.

She tilted her neck up and pressed a sweet kiss to his cheek.

"I love you too. I promise I'll try," she agreed. He wrapped both of his arms around her as tears began to escape her eyes.

"Good. Because no matter what, I'll be there for you." He pulled a blanket up around both of them as Emily began to fall asleep.

"Good night, Aaron," she whispered. Her eyes fell closed, and her breathing became steady.

"Good night, Emily." And with that, the two fell asleep in each other's arms, never to let go.

**The End**

**Author's Note: Hope you enjoyed! Review, please :) **


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